In the previous chart, it is hard to see what specifically is causing CO2 emissions. It only shows broad categories. Fortunately that data is available!

The lines reported every year are Portsmouth specific. The lines with less data points are national data. I’ve combined several smaller sources into an “other” category which includes: C. Large Industrial Installations, D. Industrial and Commercial Other Fuels, E. Agriculture, H. Domestic ‘Other Fuels’, L. Diesel Railways, M. Transport Other, N. LULUCF Net Emissions. The chart shows the main contributors.

The main reduction of CO2 emissions is clearly from electricity generation from industrial, commercial and domestic sectors. In fact, domestic gas is almost the number one contributor (and given the data is from 2016 it is likely to be the number 1 by now). The reduction in CO2 from generation is probably due to schemes that reduce demand for electricity and switching to renewable (or less polluting) fuel sources.

What is also evident from the chart is CO2 from transport is roughly constant for all modes of transport. This needs to be brought down quickly in order to achieve climate goals. The main contributor is road traffic, including minor roads, A roads and motorways. We need to tackle our car dependency if we are to get to net zero carbon. The question now is does Portsmouth City Council have a credible plan to tackle emissions from road transport and domestic gas use?

I’m starting a blog for my research into data sets and government policy, particularly when relevant to Portsmouth. I’ll start with CO2 emissions for Portsmouth, since the city council recently passed a climate emergency motion.

This data is specific for Portsmouth, except for “Aviation, Shipping, etc” since that was not allocated to local areas in the original data. Aviation and Shipping are based on the UK average, which is not very accurate as Portsmouth is a busy port, but are included as a rough guide. As can be seen, the CO2 emissions have greatly decreased from industrial, commercial and domestic sources. Transport has had a modest decrease but remained mostly stagnant for the last few years. It is now the 2nd largest source of CO2 since domestic use has dropped to 3rd place. Forestry and other areas (abbreviated LULUCF) provides a tiny negative contribution. The council has set a target of 2030 to reach carbon neutral, so we have some way to go!